'He died doing what he loved'

By ALISON HORWOOD

Fay Smith had a feeling in the pit of her stomach when her grandson, Jared Gane, packed his bags again.

"Jared always just got itchy feet, and would head off. But I knew something was wrong this time, I didn't want him to go."

Jared, 27, had been back in Australia for less than a year - working in the North Queensland mines and doing up his mother's garden on the Gold Coast - when he decided to hit the road again. He left Mudgeeraba a week ago, telling his grandmother by phone not to worry.

"He said it was all a bit of fun, he wanted to see the world and be with his cobbers."

When Mrs Smith woke on Sunday and heard news of the Bali blasts on the radio, she knew immediately that her worst fears had been realised.

Blenheim-born Jared - described by his grandmother as a "roving ambassador for New Zealand" - was en route to meet his brother Nathan in Europe but had a brief stopover in Bali. At midnight (local time) on the Saturday, he was due to meet friends at the Sari Club for a stag party. He arrived early, and was caught in the bomb blasts about 11pm.

"He was meant to leave the next day," said Mrs Smith, of Blenheim. "He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

When Jared didn't emerge from the bar, an Australian friend living in Bali spent a day trawling through the injured in the hospitals. On the second day he went to the morgue.

There, said Mrs Smith, he saw a body that he thought was Jared.

"He was badly burned, unrecognisable. And he didn't have a passport or papers because they all leave them in the hotels. But he recognised him by his jewellery."

Jared, who moved to Australia with parents Dianne and Alistair Gare 16 years ago, wore a bone necklace and a kangaroo-foot earring.

The Indonesian authorities would not release his body until a family member verified its identity.

Jared's stepfather is in Bali and his family in Australia and New Zealand were last night waiting for a phone call.

Mrs Smith said Jared's stepfather travelled with dental records and photographs of the jewellery, but if there was any confusion about identity, the remains would be DNA tested. The results could take weeks.

She said the family were confident that the body was Jared, and took comfort from the fact they have a body, while other families were still searching.

"He just loved travelling. He had been everywhere. He crammed a lot into his short life. He at least died happy, and doing what he loved."

Bali messages and latest information on New Zealanders
New Zealand travellers in Bali, and their families around the world, can exchange news via our Bali Messages page. The page also contains lists of New Zealanders in Bali and their condition.

Foreign Affairs advice to New Zealanders

* Travellers should defer travel to Bali

* NZers in Bali should keep a low profile and remain calm

* Foreign Affairs Hotline: 0800 432 111

Feature: Bali bomb blast

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